The full sized mid-size, my 2014 F150 "Fiddy"

[Grassland]

Well, we ran the truck through ADESA twice.
The truck never bid up past $16700, thought it didn't help the morons listed it as an XL the first run through.

Not sure if we'll try selling it privately, or plan to keep it long term. A friend of mine is going to buy the Decked Drawers out of it.

Thankfully the weather has been very mild so it should give me a chance to find some stock blocks for the rear, and I can sell the 3" blocks to somebody.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

Yeah they are MSRP 45+. I can likely get what I want for about $36k. You've got me second guessing myself now though... Plus Ford pulled the leather steering wheel out of the 301a package and put it in the 302a package, the jerks, so I won't get my coveted leather steering wheel in the next truck either

IIRC you can buy the leather steering wheel for about 130.00 and swap it in an hour.

 

[Grassland]

I ran RCI steel skid plates on my 2008 Ranger and was very happy with the product and buying experience, so it was straight back to them when I needed protection for the naked F150

I went aluminum to save weight and not worry about rust. I have the entire kit. Engine, transmission, transfer case, as well as the fuel tank.

They have already saved the transmission and there is a good dent and crease from when I high centered myself like an idiot one winter camp out.

 

[badm0t0rfinger]

I want to get some RCI plates but it doesn't look like they offer the aluminum for my year anymore!

 

[FORISTR]

I went aluminum to save weight and not worry about rust. I have the entire kit. Engine, transmission, transfer case, as well as the fuel tank.

Been considering these for sure. Maybe I totally missed it on their site, but do you know the weight difference between steel and aluminum for the full kit?

 

[Grassland]

Been considering these for sure. Maybe I totally missed it on their site, but do you know the weight difference between steel and aluminum for the full kit?

Off the top of my head I don't remember, and I'm not sure if they are even making steel anymore. They really cater to the Toyota market now.

 

[Grassland]

Oh boy oh boy.
Buddy just sent me this, he is out scouting a general area for our next winter camp out.
I'm going out next weekend to scout further.

 

[Grassland]

I want to get some RCI plates but it doesn't look like they offer the aluminum for my year anymore!

I just checked and that seems to be the case. Unfortunate. Again they seem to have joined the Toyota bandwagon. I guess more people mod Tacoma then F150.
Still seem to offer aluminum for the 15+ Trucks

 

[phsycle]

Oh boy oh boy.
Buddy just sent me this, he is out scouting a general area for our next winter camp out.
I'm going out next weekend to scout further.

My brother did the same thing yesterday, going snowmobiling. Told him not to go too far off the road and he guns it ?. Good thing we had another truck with us.

 

[Grassland]

Sold the 3.25" blocks and my Decked drawers to a friend of mine to use on his fleet truck. Also put a new battery in, but went with some generic wholesale battery rather than interstate. Also just rolled over 100,000km this weekend.

I just got back from another backcountry winter camp out. Nice over night low of -31 Celsius, so I got about 3 combined hours of sleep.

Lessons were learned, good and bad. We went out after dark, and confirmed we can set up the tent with head lamps without wanting to strangle each other. Great.
We also learned -25 and colder is more than the stove can take care of, especially with crappy wood. Bad.
I confirmed I need a proper winter sleeping bag/blanket set up. My "Hot Core 200" that's supposedly rated for -10 deg C had me freezing, and that was with a faux sheepskin blanket and a thin fleece blanket inside. The -31 night I spent nodding off on a camp chair by the stove because I woke up violently shivering in my bag.

I'll try to add more pictures later my, Chrome isn't behaving right now on my phone




Edit: sleeping bag is rated for -10°C not -20. It's my backpacking bag and it only is comfortable to around 5°C

 

[Mekcanix]

Very cool, (sorry bad pun) We used wheel out to Pit Lake in the Whiteshell by Rennie MB. I went with friends who had been doing it for years, and I believe the threshold would be overnight lows of -20 c being the break off point. -31 would probably not have ended well to be honest I am impressed.
Roughly where abouts did you guys go?

 

[Grassland]

Very cool, (sorry bad pun) We used wheel out to Pit Lake in the Whiteshell by Rennie MB. I went with friends who had been doing it for years, and I believe the threshold would be overnight lows of -20 c being the break off point. -31 would probably not have ended well to be honest I am impressed.
Roughly where abouts did you guys go?

East of Lac Du Bonnet, a little east of the junction of highway 313 and 315.

Yeah the difference between -20 and -30 is significant.

 

[phsycle]

Yeah, those sleeping bag ratings....they mean it'll keep you alive at those temps. It will not be comfortable at all. There are some super nice down sleeping bags that work really well, but they're also $500+. I usually take a few cheaper sleeping bags and/or blankets, and layer, which seems to work well.

 

[Grassland]

Ok

The truck is at a point where it could use some maintenance.
5.5 years old now, just rolled 100,000km (60k miles)
Remember this was a fleet truck and it hauled and towed pretty well every day of its life until Aug 2018, and it's been off roading and towing since then. (Much of it in -20C to -35C temps)
Was thinking coolant flush, and deal with any leaky connections found at same time.
Differential and T case flush.
Add transmission cooler? Transmission fluid was flushed around 92k km. Pads and rotors done around 95k. Oil changes have been at 8,000km/5,000 mile intervals on full synthetic since about 30,000km, and was at 5,000km intervals when using conventional.

I'd like an aluminium F150, but I also don't look forward to 4 years of truck payments.
I've had a quote of around $1000 to fix the paint chips and rust that's starting. (Both places said truck was in good shape and if it was their truck they would deal with it now)
The transmission cooler itself is like $100 or less, haven't got a quote for install. (Currently not plumbed for cooler)

The real question is, do I just do minimum maintenance in case I get a deal on aluminium truck and flog the Fiddy?

Or do I double down at this point and consider a re gear to 4.10 and add a helical LSD, do all the maintenance, fix the paint, new leaf pack etc?

All that would probably set me back 6-7k, but there are tenth gen F150s on the road even in this rusty wasteland, so really I could drive my truck another 3-4 without much issue.

 

[Todd780]

Just out of curiosity, what do you think the truck is worth in it's current state?